Top smartphone apps of 2016: Google and Facebook control 8 out of the top 10 slots

Amazon, Apple Music appear on Nielsen's list, while Snapchat and Pandora are in the comSore top 10.

Many top year-end lists are now coming out, and Nielsen has released its ranking of the the top smartphone apps of 2016. In its ranking encompassing both Facebook and Google apps, Nielsen shows Facebook with top two spots (and Instagram farther down), followed by five Google apps.

Apple Music and Amazon round out the top 10. The apps with the strongest year-over-year audience growth were Amazon and Instagram, according to Nielsen.

Facebook had just under 150 million average unique app users each month in 2016. That compares with comScore’s November smartphone app ranking, showing the social site with 79 percent smartphone-app audience reach.

Snapchat appears in the top 10 for comScore, but not for Nielsen, although the Nielsen list is cumulative for all of 2016. Apple Music and Amazon are lower on the comScore list than they are on Nielsen’s. Pandora appears at number 9 on the comScore list but is not in the top 10 on the Nielsen list.

Both lists are extrapolated from panels of opt-in smartphone users.

Top Smartphone Apps November 2016 (comScore)

Both measurement companies also have data on the relative shares of smartphone operating systems. Both sets of numbers are for the US market. They’re close but not identical, with Nielsen showing a smaller gap between Android and the iPhone.

Smartphone Operating System Share (US)

About The Author

Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor at Search Engine Land. He writes about the connections between digital and offline commerce. He previously held leadership roles at LSA, The Kelsey Group and TechTV. Follow him Twitter or find him on LinkedIn.